Designation: Sparkling
by ramshacklemecha
Summary: What's a human to do? A baby robot from outer space is bound to be a handful. Will contain slash elements later on.
1. Chapter 1: Prelude

Designation: Sparkling

Author's Notes: I want to say firstly, that Transformers doesn't belong to me, but all original characters are obviously mine. Secondly, I know that this first chapter has some kinks to work out, and I never seem to be able to write out exactly how I want… Thirdly, I imagined this in an alternate universe sort of way, which will be explained later. This story will also have slash parts(but much later), so I want no slack from anyone.

Lastly, I want to say that inspiration for writing this comes from Black Dragon Queen's awesome awesome story, Cover Me. I suggest you all go read it.

Prelude

Rachel sighed deeply. Recently, all her time had been occupied by work, which was nothing more to her than a job that paid the bills and put a silver lining in her pocket.

She tapped anxiously at her keyboard, already bored with her daily tasks. She supposed that her being bored working at one of the largest, and one of the most powerful, companies in the western United States stemmed from the fact that although her job was designing new ways in communications, one she was quite adept at, she wasn't being recognized for her hard work. She had been working at Proctor Telecommunications for 10 years and had hit the proverbially glass ceiling. She was making money and her little nest egg had done nothing but swell, but she couldn't help but be unsatisfied. It was as if she had a higher calling, one that had yet to show itself yet.

She had no idea that this was to come true.

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8 hours later.

Location: Local movie store

"Hmmmm, what movie to get," Rachel murmured, looking over the vast selection of movies adorning the shelves. Work had been boring to the extreme, nothing fruitful coming from her tries at designing a new prototype. Her boss had even come to yell at her for surfing the web for 'ideas', although she secretly had hidden the fact she was looking up aliens. She glanced over at a busily chattering family, feeling a slight pang of not having a child of her own, although she ruthlessly squashed that snippet of emotion.

"I suppose I could always get this one again," she said thoughtfully making up her mind, and grabbing an old favorite of hers, and heading off to the checkout.

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"Sir?" the officer monitoring the screen said slightly concerned.

"Yes Officer Stone?" a bored voice replied.

"There is unusual activity near the moon. Sensors indicate a small meteor or other space debris," Stone said, gesturing at his screen.

"Is it big enough to cause any damage?"

"No…it should break apart upon entering the atmosphere, but I really think-"

"It is not important then. We don't spend millions a year to look out for space rocks."

"Yes Sir," Stone said, still not convinced.

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Rachel hummed a catchy little tune along to the radio, driving along the peaceful nighttime streets of Mission City. Pulling up to a stop sign, she sighed, and stretched slightly. She briefly glanced up at the sky, gasping as she glimpsed a strange sight. What appeared to be a meteor was streaking along in the sky, in what appeared to be her direction.

"This is not what I meant by a sign," she grumbled, thinking back to one of her more, bored moments during work. She had wished something would come along and change her life. "It looks like this meteor is certainly going to change the road a bit," she thought, swerving to the side of the road.

The meteor came down suddenly with a boom, which nearly deafened Rachel. She glanced at where it had landed, scarcely twenty feet away. Curiosity getting the better of her, she slowly got out of the car and crept up to the impact site. What she saw made her gasp out loud, "Oh bugger it, I really did pick the right movie."

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Can you guess which movie it is? Hurr hurr hurr.

Comments are appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2: Contact, Mishaps, Mayhem

Designation: Sparkling

Author's Notes: Well, here we go, chapter 2. It has only slight language, which I hope offends no one. Hope you enjoy it.

Normal Speech

_Thoughts_

Contact, Mishaps, Mayhem

"Oh bugger it, I really did pick the right movie," Rachel groaned stepping forward cautiously. There, in the middle of the impact site, was a slightly dented robot, who was quite, small…

"Oh boy, I had to get the small one," Rachel bemoaned, looking about to see if anyone had noticed. Except for the barking of a dog a couple houses down, it seemed no one had noticed. "What the hell!? How can no one notice a meteor coming down in the middle of the street?"

As if her words had inspired a turn around in the universe, she could hear the far off wail of sirens. "Well, ain't that just lovely," Rachel grumbled, stooping to pick up the little robot.

Grunting with the effort, she managed to haul the approximately 3 foot frame to her car, and placed it in the back seat. Her car whined slightly at the weight. "Stupid car," she muttered, kicking the door closed, absentmindedly rubbing her shoulder. Getting in and shutting the door, she started up the car, and drove a slightly altered route to her house, effectively avoiding all the emergency vehicles.

Passing by a particularly ritzy looking house, she couldn't help but sigh longingly at the sight of the red 2006 GTO parked in the driveway. "I really should get rid of this stupid old thing, and get me one of those," she said wistfully. Turning her attention back to the road, she missed the blue optics of the robot flicker on, and scan the area.

WRRRR WRRRR CLICK CLUNK

"WHAT THE-!?" Rachel screeched swerving, and narrowly missing a mailbox. Stopping suddenly, earning a loud thump from the back seat, she peered into the back seat. "Oh my god, you have _got _to be kidding me."

Sitting on the floor of the backseat, looking as disgruntled as a robot car can be, was a miniature version of said car. It revved its little engine, and with the same loud sounds as before, changed back into the tiny robot she had picked up. Its optics narrowed at Rachel, and scampered into the front seat.

"Bad boy- robot!" Rachel scolded, shaking her finger at it. "Get back in the backseat! Baby robots don't belong in the front seat!"

It whirred and clicked for a minute before Rachel figured out it was talking. "You better not be talking back to me," she growled dangerously. She grasped its arm and was about to pick it up and put it back in the backseat, when it quivered, and released what could only be described as baby robot pee. "Oh _man_, not my car…" Rachel wailed, looking at the oily mess. It whirred and clicked some more, looking down, and looking back up at Rachel. Its shoulders slumped, and it whined its engine.

Rachel couldn't help but feel bad for getting upset. "Awww, I'm sorry," she crooned, reaching for it slowly. It backed away, and whined its engine some more.

"Fine, be that way," she said with a sigh. "Just stay there, erm…" she thought for a minute. What would be a good name for a baby robot? "Sparkling," she said sighing. It certainly wasn't original, but it would do until she figured out a suitable name. However, at the mentioning of Sparkling, it whirred once, cocking its head. "Yeah, that's your name," Rachel said absently, finally heading back home.

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Figuring where to put Sparkling was a tough choice for Rachel. She could put him in a guest bedroom for now, although he could easily break something, or leave yet another oil stain, something she was not looking forward to cleaning up.

_Or_, she thought, turning off her engine, and looking thoughtfully at Sparkling. _He could stay in the garage. I don't really want to leave him alone, but it would probably be best to keep him there since if this movie is any indication, _she mused, looking at her rental movie, _he'll get big._

A random thought said gleefully, _So, we're gonna keep him?_

Rachel sighed and looked over at Sparkling, noticing his optics drooping slightly.

"I guess you're stuck with me now."

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Carrying the baby bot to the garage wasn't an easy feat, especially when she had to juggle him, and her key ring looking for the right, blasted key. After her fifth attempt,(really, how can one person have so many useless keys?) she finally pushed the door open, and looked around the rather spacious garage. She had never been more thankful that the previous owners had used this as a rec room.

"Okay Sparkling, I'm gonna leave you right here, and I'm going to go get some more comfortable for you to sleep on," she crooned, placing the baby bot down gently. It clicked a few times and fell silent. She took that as agreement, and headed towards her house, after closing the garage door. She propped open the door.

She found an old carpet piece and some blankets; gathering them up, she headed back to the garage. It was empty, with the door swinging creakily in the faint breeze.

"Damn it all!" She cursed, dropping her bundle on the floor. A faint crash was heard from her house. "Oh no, he didn't," she groaned, heading towards the house.

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What greeted her was utter mayhem. Dishes were scattered and broken, one of her dining room chairs was missing a chunk out of one of its legs, and the devastation just continued through the house until she got to her bedroom. _Oh please, if anything is good and right in this world, please let my brand new computer be ok…_ she thought, pushing open the ajar door.

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"Really I shouldn't have been surprised," she said later, after finally disconnecting her new charge from her computer port, a stunt that had taken several hours. He chattered on in what could only be described as English. Literally English English. She just groaned as he chattered on, finally saying, "Sparkling," with enough warning in her voice that he stopped.

"Yes my caregiver?" he chirped.

"You're speaking in English."

"According to this 'world wide web', this is what you speak. Was I not correct?"

"You were, but we speak a different dialect here…" Rachel sighed. A massive headache was blooming, and she wanted nothing more than to lie down. "Access it again, and look for American English," she instructed, watching him carefully.

"Alright, my caregiver," he chirped, pulling out what resembled a USB cord. After a few minutes, he disconnected, and said, this time in American English, "Is this better?"

"Much," Rachel said, relieved. "And now, you are going to go to bed. Recharge, whatever you call it. I'm tired, and I have work in the morning."

"Yes caregiver," Sparkling said, sounding slightly disappointed.

Rachel ushered him out to the garage again, faintly noticing that it was 2 in the morning on the way out through the kitchen. She started setting up his makeshift bed when she remembered something. "How about you transform into your car form," she suggested.

With a few less creaks and groans than before, Sparkling was sitting in his car form, looking no more than an oversized miniature. Rachel looked at him. "Alright, I'm going to head back to the house, I'll come see you in the morning."

"But…" Sparkling's voice said with a quiver, "Why do I have to stay out here?"

"Well," Rachel started, "You wrecked my house first off, and if anyone saw you, they'd take you away and test on you or something…"

"Oh…" Sparkling's engine whined softly.

Rachel felt guilty about leaving him out here so she promised, "I promise I'll revamp this place and spend more time with you, ok?"

Sparkling answered with a simple rev of his engine.

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Comments are appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3: Work Becomes Play

Designation: Sparkling

Author's Notes: Well, I am kinda amazed at all the people that have read, or at least looked at this. However, I am kinda disheartened that not a lot of people have left a comment. You don't have to, but I'd love it much~ Thank you to those who have.

Also, I want to say that technically Sparkling isn't a sparkling. He would be referred to as a youngling, but Rachel doesn't know that. So, it makes sense for him to be able to have an alt form. Just in case you were wondering. ;]

Work Becomes Play

Rachel groaned as the early morning sun shined through a hole in her blinds to attack her face. Bravely fending it off, she rolled over and buried her face into her slightly lumpy pillow. Peeking an eye open to check the time she noted that she had around an hour before she had to get up… Before she suddenly realized she now had a baby bot to take care of.

Groaning, she rolled to the side of her bed and gingerly put her feet on the cold floor, searching for her slippers.

"How did I even get into this mess?" Rachel sighed, wishing she had a nice pot of coffee to drown her sorrows in.

Finally locating her slippers, she slipped them on, and shuffled to the kitchen, grumbling as she carefully avoided the debris left by Sparkling.

_Geez…_ she thought, _I need to think of a new name for him. He might not be a newborn bot… but I have no idea how to tell if he is or isn't._

Toeing some cracked dishes out of the way, _They were ugly anyway_, Rachel thought, she opened a cabinet and grabbed her coffee grounds.

Deciding that waiting for her coffee to brew would be too boring, she headed out to the garage, and unlocked the door.

Really, she shouldn't have been surprised, but she was, as the door came flying open, smacking her nose in the process, and the tiny botling came flying out.

"Caregiver!" He squealed, wrapping his short arms around her knees. "I thought you'd never let me out!" He whirred and clicked, very excited, until he noticed something wet and sticky dripping onto his head. He glanced up just as a bright red droplet came soaring down and got him right in the optic. "AHHHH! My optic!!" He wailed, setting off some nearby car alarms.

Cupping her bleeding nose, Rachel dragged him into the garage before her neighbors came to see what the heck was going on. She sat him down in the middle of the garage, and started to speak, wincing at the pain in her nose. "Just what did you thinking you were doing?" she asked, wiping her hand on one of the spare blankets. The bleeding in her nose had slowed slightly, but Sparkling was still staring at the blood with apprehension.

"I was just happy to see you caregiver…I've been out of recharge for about a cycle or two, and I wanted out," Sparkling's engine whined sadly as he said this.

"What the heck is a 'cycle'?" Rachel asked, confused, as she wiped off the remaining blood from her face using one of the old blankets. As an afterthought, she wiped the blood off of Sparkling's head.

"It's time…" Sparkling said confused, "About a… hour or so? And what is that fluid?" He said, his attention now on the bloody blanket in Rachel's hands.

"Blood," she explained, "Blood is what keeps us going." Her stomach rumbled slightly. "Speaking of which…I need food. And you'll probably need gas or something…" she muttered. "I need you to stay in here for now; I have to go to work in a while. I'll get you some gas when I come back." With that, Rachel turned on her heel, and walked out, despite Sparkling rather loud protests, locking the door behind her.

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Location: Proctor Telecommunications, Floor Three

Time: 2:20 p.m.

Rachel groaned, rubbing her swollen nose. She couldn't help but feel guilty about leaving the tiny bot alone, but she had work, although, she did have a large amount of paid vacation time left. She wondered how he was doing, but figured he'd be okay for the time being.

Her phone ringed. Grumbling, she picked up the phone, and said, "Hello, Rachel Mason speaking."

"Hey Rachel, it's me, Sydney," a familiar voice sang out. Sydney was the office's receptionist. "I just wanted to let you know I got an odd call from someone; they were asking for you."

"Really?" Rachel asked, curious.

"Yeah, I think it was a prank, but you never know…kids these days think imitating robots are the funniest thing. Probably because of those transformers movies," Sydney say with a chuckle.

"Robot?" Rachel said, her stomach sinking quickly.

"Yeah, sounded kinda young too, but you know how that goes. Silly teens these days. Anyway, thought you should know." With that, Sydney hung up.

"That little rascal," Rachel growled under her breath. "He better not try anything."

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Location: Rachel's garage

Time: 1:29 p.m.

There were exactly 16 cracks in the floor, 618 slats of wood, and 3 openings in the garage.

Sparkling was bored out of his processor.

He was getting hungry, and wanted to talk to his caregiver. But she had locked him in, with nothing for the little botlet to do. He practiced transforming for the 18th time, and zoomed around the garage bored.

"If only I could access the 'World Wide Web' again," he mused. "But there is no 'computer' to access." He circled around a few more times before his processor suddenly thought, _Wireless?_ He stopped. Of course, why hadn't he thought of that.

He was finally successful in gaining access to the internet after 6 tries. Without his caregiver teaching him what to do, he was slow in learning how to do things, a fact that he was disappointed with. He wanted to learn, and he decided he would go find his caregiver.

Using the internet, he was able to determine that he was in a town called Mission City. The earth year was 2010; the date was June 25th. He quickly gathered facts that he needed; it seemed strange to him that he was quickly able to find information in where his caretaker was, but he pushed that thought out of his processor with an indifferent shrug. He had also found out his caretaker's name, through a little bit of digging.

Sending out a signal, he placed a call to his caretaker's company. And waited for someone to pick up. He hoped it was his caretaker.

"Hello? This is Sydney from Proctor Telecommunications. How may I help you?" A sweet voice asked.

_Not who I want_, thought Sparkling annoyed. "I want to speak to Rachel Mason," Sparkling said with a whirr and a click.

"Are you one of those pranksters again? I swear, use something other than a robotic voice if you want to prank us. This is irritating." And with that the line went dead.

Sparkling was simply shocked. That had been…rude? He thought, thinking of the right word. All he wanted was to speak to his caregiver. And now he couldn't.

_This isn't fair_, he grumbled inwardly_. I want to see her…_

Straightening as a random thought hit his processor, he giggled, and with some excited whirrs, he accessed the internet again.

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Location: Proctor Telecommunications, Floor Three

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Stretching with a sigh, Rachel headed back to her desk, impatient to finish her work up and leave.

She sat down with a thump, and leaned back. A small revving engine was heard from under her desk, and she groaned, "Sparkling?"

"Caregiver!" he squealed quietly. "I am so happy to see you!"

"You are supposed to be at home," Rachel growled dangerously. "How did you get here?"

"I gathered information, or as you would say, intel," Sparkling said proudly, peering out from under the desk.

"Intel?" Rachel asked, a sudden thought coming to mind.

"Yes! I am glad to see you again! You will not believe how hard it was to get here! My tires are so sore. And I almost got hit by a bus!" Sparkling chattered.

Time seemed to screech to a halt. "You almost got hit by a _bus_!?" Rachel hissed.

"Yes, but I avoided it. I am unharmed," Sparkling said proudly.

"You little… I was thinking of giving you a more suitable name, but now I'm not so sure," Rachel said with a displeased look. "That was too dangerous. You can't do that."

"But, all sensors indicate that, aside from my energy depletion and sore tires, I am perfectly all right!" Sparkling pouted.

"You are so grounded," Rachel said firmly. "_Forever_."

"Grounded?" Sparkling asked, processor whirling to connect to the internet. "I am… mentally and emotionally stable : admirably sensible, realistic, and unpretentious? I fail to see how this applies."

"No!" Rachel hissed. "It means you are definitely not doing anything fun for a loooong time."

"I think I liked the other definition better," Sparkling said as he whined his engine.

"Yeah, sucks for you. You now have to hide under my desk until I'm done with the work I put off for you, ordering stuff to go into the garage. And then we'll have to figure how to get you out of here without anyone seeing you. You getting in here unseen was a miracle in of itself," Rachel said, pausing for breath.

"I'm sorry, my caregiver… but I just wanted to see you. And I was bored," Sparkling said, optics dimming slightly.

"It's alright now…but you need to be quiet until I'm ready to leave. If I hear one peep out of you, you won't be using anything I put in that garage," Rachel warned, settling back in her chair.

"Alright!" Sparkling chirped.

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Sparkling was bored under the desk. By his calculations, Rachel should be done in an hour or so, but he wanted to leave now. If he messed with anything in the building, Rachel would offline him for sure. Not to mention that would mean no fun things in the garage. _I wonder what they are going to be?_ He wondered curiously.

He shook that thought out of his processor. Now was not the time to be thinking about that. He had to figure out how to get his caregiver to leave work early. He was starting to get small warnings about low energy, and he wanted some of this, gas, she had mentioned the night before.

Later Rachel would tell him that hacking into the electrical mainframe of the city was bad, but at the time it was a good idea. He got past all the firewalls, and tried to shut off the block's electricity.

He shut off half the city's power.

"What the hell!?" Half the office workers shrieked.

"Oh damn, I had almost finished too…" Rachel bemoaned.

"Can we go home now?" Sparkling optics shone brightly in the dark office.

"You did that, didn't you," Rachel asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Of course not!" Sparkling squeaked nervously.

"Why do I even try," Rachel groaned. "Let's just get out of here and go home."

Making their way out was easy enough in the darkness, although Rachel had to hold Sparkling's hand, since his optics were too bright to leave open.

When they got to the parking lot, Sparkling had to transform and rush to her car, lest anyone see him.

Stopping for gas was an adventure in of itself; Sparkling was very curious about the whole process., and tried getting out the car to investigate, but was quickly stopped by a knowing glare.

Otherwise, the ride home was uneventful.

Feeding time was another story.

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Whew! That was a long one.

I wasn't totally satisfied, but it will do. I sometimes can't write what I think…

Let me know what you think by hitting that review button!


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